A 34-year-old man who spent nearly a year in jail after admitting to killing a swan at Lake Eola has been arrested again, this time accused of walking down East Colonial Drive with a metal pipe, smashing an Arby's window, damaging a Dunkin' Donuts sign and busting a PNC Bank ATM in broad daylight. Adonis Leyva was released less than a month before the new arrest, and Orlando police say his latest rampage sent a bank worker running for safety.
Orlando Police charged Leyva with felony criminal mischief following the incident, which unfolded on East Colonial Drive on Monday, August 31, according to WKMG ClickOrlando. Police say Leyva walked in the roadway and threw the metal pipe at passing cars before smashing the Arby's window, an act investigators attributed to him based on the arrest affidavit. Responding officers later spotted Leyva at a Wawa across the street from the Arby's, per the outlet's report on the arrest.
An Arby's worker identified Leyva as the man responsible, according to the arrest affidavit cited in the report. The Arby's location is no longer open, though the article does not specify whether the closure is connected to the incident. Leyva also faces an additional felony charge tied to property damage at a nearby PNC Bank, where a worker noticed the branch ATM had been smashed on Tuesday. Surveillance footage appeared to show Leyva at the PNC Bank location on Monday, investigators said.
A Familiar Name From Lake Eola's Swan Case
Leyva was arrested in 2025 in a separate case involving the killing of a swan at Lake Eola, the downtown Orlando park long associated with the birds. That arrest came after Orlando police found him holding a dead swan, and he admitted to killing it, leading to initial charges of grand theft and aggravated animal cruelty, according to FOX 35 Orlando. Under Florida Statute § 828.12, aggravated animal cruelty is a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, with mandatory psychological counseling or anger management treatment upon conviction, according to The Florida Senate.
Leyva spent 344 days in jail following that arrest while undergoing a mental competency evaluation, a process governed in Florida by Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.210 and Florida Statute § 916.12, which pause criminal proceedings when there are reasonable grounds to doubt a defendant's ability to understand the case against him or assist his attorney, per the statute referenced by The Florida Senate. A judge ultimately found Leyva fit to stand trial, and he pleaded no contest before his release less than a month before the new arrest.
New Felony Charges and What Comes Next
The new criminal mischief charges Leyva faces fall under Florida Statute § 806.13, which classifies criminal mischief as a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison when property damage exceeds $1,000 or causes at least $1,000 in business disruption costs. Damage values from separate victims injured during a single continuous course of conduct can be aggregated to meet that felony threshold, according to the statute breakdown from the Sammis Law Firm — a detail that could matter given Leyva is accused of damaging multiple businesses in one spree.
State Attorney Monique Worrell's office has not answered questions about Leyva's mental health treatment plan or his probation status following his release, leaving unresolved how closely he was being supervised in the weeks before the East Colonial Drive incident. Under Florida's Dexter's Law, which took effect July 1, 2025, people convicted of aggravated animal cruelty face enhanced sentencing multipliers and mandatory listing on a public animal cruelty registry that cannot be sealed or expunged, according to the Brancato Law Firm.
A Community Rattled, and a Landmark in Transition
Neighbors reacted with a mix of relief and concern after news of the arrest spread. “Nobody would feel safe. I don't think anybody that does cruelty or has harming in their hearts should be free,” Elizabeth Guerrero said. Another resident, Kim Long, struck a softer note, saying, “I'm glad everybody's alright. I hope he gets the help that he needs,” as WKMG ClickOrlando detailed.
The case arrives just weeks after the City of Orlando permanently relocated its remaining 42 captive swans from Lake Eola to a licensed sanctuary in Lake Butler, following a deadly avian flu outbreak that killed 29 birds and ahead of a planned $60 million park renovation. Swans have been fixtures at Lake Eola since 1922, when an Englishman relocated two fighting breeds from nearby Lake Lucerne, and they became enduring symbols of downtown Orlando for more than a century. The city had already halted public feeding at the park in March amid the flu outbreak, removing coin-operated feeding machines in favor of feeders managed directly by park staff.
Leyva's felony cases, both the earlier animal cruelty charge and the new criminal mischief counts, are processed through Central Florida's 9th Judicial Circuit Court at the Orange County Courthouse in downtown Orlando, less than a mile from Lake Eola Park. It remains unclear whether Leyva will again face a competency evaluation as the new charges move through the system, or what supervision, if any, will be imposed as the case proceeds.
